Healthcare Marketing

A smart marketing blog

14 January 2012

Personal v Professional Physician Social Media

Personal use surpasses professional use when it comes to physicians on social media. Today, more doctors use two or more social media platforms for personal purposes compared with social sites used for professional purposes.

Almost 90% of physicians use at least one site for personal use and over 65% for professional purposes.

As a profession, doctors have a significant interest in the potential applications of social media to patients and other clinicians. They illustrate interest in online physician communities and patient communities that may facilitate doctor-patients interactions.

A small group of “connected clinicians”, use multiple social media platforms for both personal and professional use.

Key points from this QuantiaMD study ::
• The majority of doctors are already using social media. Facebook is the most popular medium for personal use, with online physician communities are more popular for professional use.

• Doctors who are familiar with patient portals or communities agree that they have a positive impact an individual’s health – but awareness of these social media sites is very low.

• 28% of doctors use professional physician communities, with the goal to confer, refer and learn from experts.

• Clinicians approve and see the benefit of electronic interactions with patients to improve access and quality of care, but many are concerned about patient privacy, liability and compensation for these activities.

• There remains a very significant need for secure and convenient forms of interactive communication tools that doctors can use to talk with each other and patients.

• 20% of clinicians use 2 or more social media sites for personal and professional use. These so-called “Connected Clinicians” are very eager to use social media to improve health care.